"Love Doctor"

by: Sakuranime

Disclaimer: Must you keep reminding me?

TA-DA! Here it is, the second chapter of "Love Doctor"! It's longer this time so I hope you guys are satisfied! The characters may seem OOC…but remember- TIME HAS PASSED! So of course they would act differently! ENJOY!

"Quotations"

'Inner thoughts'

(( Flashbacks ))

Chapter 2: Wake up!

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"PI. PI. PI. PI. PIPI. PIPI. PIPI. PIPI. PIPIPI! PIPIPI! PIPIPI! PIPIPI!"

The pink-haired jounin shifted in her sleep but that was all.

"PIPIPIPI! PIPIPIPI! PIPIPIPI! PIPIPIPI!"

A groan escaped her pink lips.

"WAKE UP POPOCHI! WAKE UP POPOCHI! WAKE UP POPOCHI!"

Suddenly, she shot up, her hair in a tangled mess. It seemed like she was awake. But no, she picked up her pillow, fluffed it a bit, and then plopped back down.

"GOOD MORNING! GOOD MORNING! GOOD MORNING!"

A neighbor on her street opened a window, his red face infuriated at being woken up. "WILL YOU SHUT YOUR DAMN ALARM!"

The words fell on deaf ears as she rolled on her back.

"WAKE UP POPOCHI! WAKE UP POPOCHI! WAKE UP POPOCHI!"

Again, nothing.

"OROCHIMARU IS ATTACKING! OROCHIMARU IS ATTACKING! OROCHIMARU IS ATTACKING!"

18-year-old Haruno Sakura bolted awake. Her wide eyes searched the entire room while her hand that held a kunai whipped wildly. Having just awakened and not grasping her senses, the kunai fell clumsily from her hand, resulting in the blade cutting her wrist. A red line appeared and drops of blood began to stream out.

Her curses sounded into the early morning dew and woke up basically everyone on her block.

"ARGH! DAMMIT, WHY DID I HAVE TO LISTEN TO THAT BAKA!"

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"Alright, Haruno-san. What have we learned about carrying kunais in our sleep?" The doctor scolded. After the morning's predicament, Sakura had to run to the Konoha Hospital after hastily changing clothes.

Sakura's unharmed hand touched the bandage-covered wrist. "Don't hold kunais in your sleep."

The doctor nodded approvingly. "Good." He shook his head in disbelief. "What on earth were you doing anyway?"

The pink-haired kunoichi rubbed the back of her head nervously. "Uhhh…a friend's advice…"

The doctor quirked an eyebrow. "A friend's advice?"

"Sakura-chan!" A voice from the doorway interrupted.

The patient sitting on the bed turned to look at the spikey-haired blonde and restricted herself from punching him in the face. "Hi, Naruto…" Sakura spotted a dark purple-haired girl behind him.

"Hinata?"

The shy girl tilted her head so she wouldn't be blocked by Naruto. "H-hello, Haruno-san…"

Sakura frowned. "I told you to call me Sakura!"

The doctor chuckled. "I'll leave the three of you alone…" Gathering his clipboard and folder, he left the room to give privacy for the three friends.

Naruto rushed to her side as soon as the doctor left. "Sakura-chan! I heard you got hurt from Hinata!" Hinata's blush when he said her name went by unnoticed by Naruto but not by Sakura.

'A little romance blooming, eh?' Sakura thought evilly, the gears in her matchmaking-mind turning.

Naruto was far from the 10-year-old boy he used to be. Now age 19, he was extremely handsome (no one was surprised about this; he did look like Yondaime), his facial features more defined then that of his 10-year-old self. Even though he was well-built, he was skinny. No one knew how he grew to be a healthy 19-year-old jounin with the way he ate ramen all the time.

After the disaster of the first chuunin exam they took, Naruto, Sakura, and Sasuke all trained to become better shinobis and excelled their skills greatly. After they took the chuunin exam for the second time, they graduated with the top scores to chuunin level.

It was after they became chuunin that Tsunade-sama accepted Sakura as her apprentice. Kakashi chose to teach Sasuke, and at the same time, steer him away from Orochimaru's grasp. Naruto was also to become Jiraiya's apprentice, much to everyone's surprise because the perverted hermit was known for sneaking into women's baths and probably didn't have time to teach a boy like him. Who knew that Jiraiya had taken a liking in the Kyuubi-sealed boy?

When the time came for the jounin exam, Naruto, Sakura, and Sasuke all took the exam and passed with ease. The ceremony for the new jounins included congratulating one special team that had proved their excellence in knowledge, battle, and comradeship. It didn't take a genius to figure out which team that was. Gai-sensei, Kakashi's "rival," couldn't believe it when he heard it was the silver-haired jounin's team that was selected.

Naruto and Sasuke decided to test their skills by applying for anbu training.

The day of the anbu exam, however, did not go well for Naruto. He was bedridden because of a terrible cold. Protesting at first that he didn't care, Hinata, who became a close friend to the three, and Sakura coaxed him into taking the day off, thus failing to show for the anbu test. Sasuke passed and became an anbu at age 17, much to Naruto's dismay. After only a few months as anbu, Sasuke had already been promoted to anbu captain.

Sakura was brought out of her reverie when she heard her friend's worried voices.

"Sakura-chan? Hellooooo? Are you there?" Naruto tapped her head.

"Haruno- I mean Sakura?" Hinata's meek voice held a tint of worry. "Are you alright?"

Sakura blinked and looked at them. "Heh… Sorry, I was kind of reminiscing." She apologized. "Anyway, where's Sasuke-kun?"

Naruto shrugged. "I think he's on an anbu mission…feh. He couldn't tell me about it because it was 'top secret,' and strictly only for anbu captain's ears." He grumbled, crossing his arms in front of his chest. "I bet he's only rubbing it in my face…"

Hinata nodded. "Sasuke is on his mission in Wave country. I think it's about a fight that's been going on…some revolution they were planning to start or something…"

"What!" Naruto wailed. "He told you and not me! Argh, that bastard…"

"What bastard?"

Sakura smiled. "Speak of the devil." Sasuke was standing in the doorway of the room; his anbu attire and wolf mask gone and his casual clothes replaced them which suggested he stopped by his house before coming here.

"You, bastard, that's who." Naruto smirked. "Back from your 'top secret' anbu mission already?"

The dark-haired boy glared at him. "For your information, dobe, I'm not allowed to tell people who might ruin the operation."

"I wouldn't ruin it!" Naruto protested. "I'm becoming anbu too!" It was true. Within a month, the anbu exam would be held soon and Naruto would have another chance to become anbu.

Sasuke rolled his eyes. "Hopefully another cold will prevent that from happening…" he muttered under his breath.

"What did you say!"

"Nothing, baka."

"What did you call me!"

"Can you hear right?"

"Why you-"

"I heard you got hurt, Sakura." Sasuke cut in before Naruto could speak. "I came here as soon as I could."

Sakura smiled and waved her bandaged-hand. "Nothing, really. I just accidentally cut an artery in my wrist with a kunai." She showed her wrist. "The doctor said it'll be fine in a matter of days!" She said hastily when he was about to scold her.

The handsome man raised an eyebrow. "Sakura, you're not clumsy with kunais. How on earth did you do that?"

The pink-haired girl laughed. "I took the advice of a very stupid friend." Sasuke automatically looked at Naruto, who in turn shrugged sheepishly.

"I didn't think she would cut herself…I always carry a kunai in my sleep…"

Hinata shook her head. "Remember the time you accidentally swallowed a kunai because you always held them in your mouth? Neji-niisan had to use his byakugan while Tsunade-sama performed a dangerous operation." She pointed out.

Naruto paled on remembrance. "Oh god…don't remind me of that…"

Sasuke smirked. "If it wasn't for your stupidity…"

"Bastard!"

Before Hinata could stop herself, she blurted out loud, "I was worried so much!" Hinata gasped, blushed tomato red, and covered her mouth with her hands.

Sakura grinned. 'How sweet! If I know Hinata, that was the closest thing to 'I like you!' She thought, while the usually silent ninja's eyebrows rose in surprise.

"Uhh…N-Naruto…I can explain-" Hinata stammered, embarrassed.

"Aww! Thanks for worrying about me, Hinata!" Naruto said and hugged her. "But I'm the ninja who's going to become the next Hokage so no need to worry!" He grinned obnoxiously.

Hinata's temperature rose to over 100 degrees at the contact with the blonde-ninja. Sakura rolled her eyes. Typical Naruto…he wouldn't know when a person was admitting their feelings if you painted it red and they were stripped naked! Sasuke bit his lip to keep from saying a comment that would surely get his ass on a pitcher by Sakura.

"Uhh…Hinata?" Naruto's voice asked.

Sakura and Sasuke looked at the Hyuuga.

"I guess it's too late to say, 'Let's go eat ramen!' right?" Naruto asked, laughing nervously.

Hinata had fainted in his hands.

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The four friends, Hinata, Naruto, Sakura, and Sasuke, decided to go to Ichiraku ramen shop for lunch. It was mostly Naruto's decision, of course. During the walk there, Hinata woke up only to find herself in an uncomfortable predicament…on Naruto's back, to which Sakura insisted he should do. Fortunately, the shy Hyuuga didn't faint again.

The four walked into the stall and upon hearing their arrival, the ramen owner, Oukei, turned to them and smiled.

"Hello, Naruto!" Oukei grinned. "I knew you couldn't stay away from my ramen for long! Pay up 5000 yen, as promised."

Naruto pulled a sour face and took his green frog wallet out of his pocket. Taking 5000 yen out, he handed it to the victorious Oukei.

The ramen shop owner counted the money, then, satisfied it was the correct amount, called over Ayame, the waitress at Ichiraku. "Ayame! Would you treat these fine ninjas your company?"

"Right here." Ayame stepped out of the back of the stall with a tray and a notepad in her hands. "What would it be, guys?"

"Vegetable ramen for me." Called Sakura, surprisingly before Naruto as the four of them took seats: Sasuke on the far end, then Sakura, then Naruto and Hinata taking the other end.

"Tofu ramen, please." Hinata's small voice called out from the end.

"Hmm…" Naruto looked thoughtful, propping his chin with his hand. "I'll have…miso ramen!"

"None for me." Sasuke's emotionless voice replied. Sakura glared at him.

"Are you going anorexic?" She demanded, her chopsticks already broken in the middle. "Eat something! You look like a walking stick!" She and Hinata giggled, the image of a Sasuke-stick in her mind already. Naruto scrunched his face as he imagined Sasuke as thin as a stick. Not a pretty sight.

Sasuke scowled like the 10-year-old kid he used to be. "Fine. I'll also have the vegetable ramen."

Ayame scribbled the orders on her notepad. "Your orders will be ready in a moment!" After disappearing into the back of the ramen shop, Sakura turned to Naruto.

"What bet?" She asked suspiciously, referring to the previous conversation with Oukei.

"Oh…heh." Naruto looked at the three with an embarrassed grin plastered on his face. "Yesterday Oukei-san made a bet with me, saying I couldn't last 2 days without his ramen…shouldn't have accepted." He admitted, still grinning.

Sasuke, snapping his chopsticks apart, rolled his eyes. "Of course you shouldn't. You know you can't last a day without ramen."

Hinata clasped her hands together. "It's a miracle that you're even alive, with the way you're always eating ramen."

Sakura nudged him in the side with a sly look on her face. "So, what's your secret?" Naruto's clueless face caused her to sigh. "How are you so skinny and well-built all the time?" She noticed Hinata's ears perking up at 'well-built' and grinned in her mind. Sakura didn't notice Sasuke's questioning glance to her.

"I'm so jealous!" Sakura continued, her eyes flashing with admiration for Naruto. "I know a lot of girls who love strong and skinny guys…" The evil matchmaker cackled in her mind when Hinata's face became a noticeable red to all but Naruto, of course.

Naruto could only ponder. "Hmmm…some girls like me?"

"Aren't you jealous, Hinata?" Sakura asked innocently, the perfect picture of a schoolgirl with her first crush.

Hinata's blush deepened. "Y-yes! S-S-Sakura…very jealous…"

"Why are you so interested?" Sasuke asked all of a sudden, letting Hinata have a breather from Sakura.

"I'm not!" The pink-haired girl scowled inwardly. 'Why did you have to ruin it, Sasuke-kun!' Before she could continue, Ayame stepped out from the back of the store with two trays of ramen.

"Ramen's done!" She announced grandly, walking over to the four. "Let's see…Vegetable for Sakura and Uchiha-san, Tofu for Hinata, and miso ramen for Naruto!" She set the bowls to their respective owners. "Enjoy!" Ayame said before returning to the back.

"Thank you!" They chorused together.

"Itadakimasu!" The steam rising from the bowls made Naruto's mouth water. He could barely contain his delight as he dipped his chopsticks into the broth and lifted strands of noodles into his mouth.

"Mmmmmm!" The kitsune-boy approved aloud. The girls giggled at his childlike-behavior while Sasuke smirked.

"Itadakimasu." Everyone said before digging in.

The sound of slurping prevailed as everyone's mouths were occupied in devouring the food.

Sasuke blinked in surprise after tasting.

"This is good." He complimented, and took another mouthful of noodles. "Better than instant ramen."

Sakura licked the rim of her mouth with her tongue to remove the remnants of the soup. "Of course it is. It's homemade!" She lifted her chopstick-covered noodles to her mouth, blew on them to cool, and then inserted them.

Hinata tastes the soup and a small portion of the noodles and her eyes closed in concentration. "About…1/2 of a tofu cube, 1/8 teaspoon of bean paste, 2 cups of water, ¾ of wheat flour-made noodles, and assorted amounts of beef, palm oil, red pepper, and dried green onion." She opened her white orbs to meet the faces of her awed friends.

"Amazing!" Sakura said, awed at her little recital. "You know the ingredients of something after tasting it?"

"Wow, Hinata! I never knew you could do that!" Naruto exclaimed, his eyes with a new admiration for his calm friend.

Sasuke nodded, understanding. "It becomes essential knowledge for figuring out if a food is poisoned, drugged, tampered with, or if the taste is off."

Hinata blushed. She only did it out of reflex but she managed to impress her friends, especially Naruto. 'Score!' She cheered in her mind.

"Neji-niisan taught me how to do that." She leaned close. "Don't tell him this, but he's a great cook." She whispered, her voice low. "Neji-niisan is embarrassed by it because he thinks cooking is a job for women."

Sakura was about to disagree when Naruto burst out laughing raucously. Sasuke grinned and a few peals of laughter escaped his lips. Sakura smiled and joined in as well.

"Neji? Cooking?" Naruto said between gasps of breath. A picture of Neji with a cooking apron on appeared in all of their minds. Instantly, a blushing Hinata hushed him.

"Shh! It's a secret! He told me not to tell anyone." She said, smiling. After the chuunin exam, Neji got over his grudge with Hinata and little by little, became closer to the Hyuuga heiress.

Naruto was already drinking the hot soup of his ramen. After finishing every last drop, he placed the bowl on the table. "Another miso, please!"

Oukei's chuckles and Ayame's feet moving were heard in the back. The Ichiraku waitress was already heading toward them with another steaming hot bowl of miso ramen.

Naruto whistled, impressed. "Service sure has gotten faster!"

"Or maybe you've gotten more predictable?" Sakura offered between bites. Sasuke nodded in agreement.

"Feh. All I know is more ramen!" Naruto said before wolfing down another bowl.

Sasuke placed his chopsticks neatly on top of his ramen bowl after he finished. "So, Sakura. How's business going?"

Hinata and Naruto both looked at the girl, waiting for news of her just established business. Sakura finished drinking the soup and set the bowl down.

"It's good…great, actually." Sakura corrected with a smile. "I've had more clients then when I first started two days ago."

"Who knew that you had a natural talent for becoming a relationship-psychologist?" Hinata said with a shake of her head.

Naruto finished slurping and patted Sakura on the back. "I'm happy to hear that, Sakura-chan!"

"I'm glad that your business is going smoothly." Sasuke said, his voice without the coldness that usually accompanied it.

"Thanks." She smiled, suddenly glad to have them as friends. Sakura looked at the time on the wall of the ramen stand and gasped. It was 12:00. Her training with the Hokage started at 12:20.

"It's already 12:00!" Sakura leapt from her seat, startling her friends. "I have to meet up with Tsunade-sama if I don't want to miss my training!" The pink-haired jounin was already starting to leave.

"Wha-" Naruto looked at her confusingly. "Already?"

"Sakura needs to train, Naruto." Hinata explained. "We'll see you after your training, Sakura!"

The blonde grinned. "Alright! We'll see you guys later!"

"I'll go with you." Sasuke said, already up and following her. "I have to report to Tsunade-sama about the anbu mission." Sakura nodded to him and waved at her friends still seated.

They were long gone before Hinata noticed something.

"Hey…Naruto-kun…" Hinata began slowly. "Did Sakura and Sasuke pay?"

Silence. Then a realization hit the blonde ninja…

"THEY DIDN'T PAY!"

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Sasuke and Sakura walked silently on the road to Godaime's office. They had left Naruto and Hinata at Ichiraku to leave them on their own time alone. Since Sakura was approved by Tsunade-sama to become her apprentice, she was required to train with her every morning.

"Sakura."

Said female blinked out of her thoughts. "Yes, Sasuke-kun?"

Sasuke glanced at her from his side. "What actually happened in the morning?" He said, eyeing her bandaged hand.

Sakura laughed. "Now that I think about it, it's funny…" Sasuke threw her a questioning glance as if to say, 'What could be funny about hurting yourself?'

She cleared her throat. "Well, the new alarm clock I got from you the day before? It started ringing in the morning for about 30 minutes-"

"You didn't wake up until after 30 minutes?" Sasuke asked her incredulously. "I normally wake up after the first ring…"

Sakura grinned. "I'm a heavy-sleeper. So anyways, the alarm suddenly said, 'OROCHIMARU! OROCHIMARU! OROCHIMARU!' and then I woke up."

"'Orochimaru?'" Sasuke asked sharply to which his companion nodded. "Damn pervert…I got the same alarm clock and it was from an anonymous person…"

"Then I cut myself with the kunai because I just woke up." She finished, embarrassed by her actions. "Remind me never to take Naruto's advice ever again."

"A shinobi should be alert at all times." Sasuke stated teasingly. Sakura's eyes widened. Sasuke, the human ice cube, was teasing?

"Sorry, oh great one," Sakura said sarcastically but her lips were upturned into a smile. "But I just woke up."

Sasuke smirked. "Just be careful next time, or you'll end up killing yourself." He advised just as they came to a stop in front of the carved faces in the mountain. The Godaime's office was inside the house next to the mountain.

"I can't imagine Naruto's face in the mountain…" Sasuke muttered, more to himself than Sakura. She stared at faces in admiration. The faces weren't just anyone, after all; they were Konoha's past Hokages.

Walking up the stairs, they reached the room just out of the Hokage's office. Beside the door to her office were chairs for people who were waiting. Sakura glanced at the clock on the wall and breathed a sigh of relief.

"12:17. Just made it." Sakura sat on one of the chairs and Sasuke knocked on the door before going inside.

After 20 minutes of waiting, Sasuke came out. By then, Sakura was inspecting a painting of Yondaime on the wall with interest. "Finished?" Sakura asked, tearing her eyes away from the portrait of the look-alike of Naruto.

The Uchiha nodded. "The mission went well and I was awarded with the rest of the day off. Tsunade-sama requests your presence now."

"See you in a while." Sakura bidded farewell and was about to go in when Sasuke stopped her.

"Sakura." All of a sudden, his normally calm eyes became intense as she turned to look at him. His onyx gaze sent a shiver down her spine. It held her emerald ones and she couldn't pull away.

After a prolonged silence, he released his spell on her. "Just be careful when you're training, ok?" His genuine worry etched on his face.

Sakura smiled brightly. "I will." Proceeding to the door, she was about to close it when she looked at Sasuke. Sakura winked.

Sasuke blinked in surprise but he wouldn't get an explanation now. She already closed the door.

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Questions? Comments? Complaints? Put them in your reviews, I love to hear from my readers!

Author Responds!

nhil: Thank you for reviewing! (gives plushies) Here you go! I love plushies…As promised, this chapter came pretty soon, right?

kasumi: Yup! I have all the books of zodiac p.i.! So good…(smile) Oikawa's hot…(cough) Thank you for the review!

Kiba3: Sasuke-kun the lover boy…hmmm…OF COURSE! (grin) If you see my profile, it says what my fave pairings are! Sasu/Saku and Naru/Hina are my most favorite ones! Your English is great, actually…my Korean is really poor…heh.

The Gandhara: True, true. It is practically impossible to review a story with a single scene! I'm really sorry, so I made a really long chapter! Hope you enjoy it...it took me so long to write this up!

els1321: Thank you for your kind words! Wow. I feel better about my story already...(smile)

For all those who reviewed, THANK YOU SO MUCH! As the writer, it's my duty to keep readers happy! REVIEW and I'll reply!

Sakura-chan